People you Should Know- Day Fifteen

I've decided to rename the Experiment Comment to "PEOPLE YOU SHOULD KNOW", because, well, frankly, you should know all my friends.   And I have something wonderful to share about the majority of them. (and the rest, well, I'll make something up :)  And, well, life is short and I'm not sure everyone of them know how I feel, so hopefully I will have 150 more days (exactly how many people I have to go) and get to tell about all the people I want to talk about. And I don't mean  "Talk about" like Gee, let me tell you this about her, but "Talk about" like, this is the coolest person and you should know them.

Capiche?

I've known this gal since grade school.  She was a hip fashionista even then.  Braces, hair that flipped out, (I so tried to mimic that flip) cool glasses, every hair in place, knee socks and skirts.  She ruled the playground.  She was a couple of years older than me, so I always sat in awe when she rolled around where I could see her.  She and I shared the same piano teacher growing up, and sat through many piano recitals together, or I would have been a little tiny blip on her radar of life growing up.  As it was, we actually bonded (even though she was far more mature than I) and became friends.  She was a cheerleader, bookworm, outgoing social butterfly of the highest magnitude, and I always admired her with all my heart.

I, of course, am talking about my sweet friend, Shelley Swope Wall.

Fact about her that might have been forgotten, she was Miss Shawnee 1979.  I somehow thought I could navigate the pageant circuit for one insane moment in 1980, (between people pushing me to play the piano and sing my one and only song I've ever written, and my desire to win a scholarship so I could go to college) I found myself walking that lit stage.  Shelley had managed to walk that stage  (face it, THAT girl's WHOLE life is a stage), and was the reigning Miss Shawnee.  She cracked me up, everyday during that tumultous two week period that was the Miss Shawnee pageant.  I would love to say I earned the coveted crown from her, but the truth was, I didn't even place.  But I did get something that was just as cool, in my eyes,  Miss Congeniality.   Funny truth, my neighbor called me the day after the pageant and said  "Laura, it's so much better to be nice, than pretty".  Sigh.  Don't I know that one.  Shelley had the combination of both, beautiful inside and out. 

After that I ran into her in Shawnee over the next few years, and she is one tough, resilient gal.  She fought and beat skin cancer, and married one of Shawnee's coolest men.  They just celebrated their 30th anniversary this past December and took their 2 kids and respective others with them on a cruise. 



This is why I love her, we are both crazy and would do anything to crack up our kids



I had reconnected with Shelley, on a day to day basis, through facebook, and we had become good friends, her even making the trip to Norman to meet Miss Laynie.  The day I got the call, November 3, 2009 that Laynie had been admitted to the ER, I was in Shawnee working and had to make that blinding, paralyzing drive to Children's Hospital .  I remembered that Shelley had said, "Call me anytime", and sometimes people say that, and you know they kind of mean it, Well, Shelley meant it.   I called her on her cell, and she was sitting down to eat at Abuelita's in Shawnee, and she excused herself from the table, and went outside the restaurant and prayed with me, all the way to the city.  I didn't experience one moment of panic or worry, because Shelley prayed it all away, on that 40 minute drive.   Some friends are precious gifts. 

 I haven't gotten the pleasure to spent much time with Tanner, her son, but I know he is a funny man, and I like that a bunch.  I have had the priviledge of meeting Kelsey, and she is one talented, precious heart-ed person.  She and Shelley were 2 of Laynie's biggest fans, and Kelsey ran in Laynie's run this past March and took 1st in the 15k.  It was sooo cold that day, that I think I finally thawed out last week.  After a summer of 100 degree days, that can give you a small indicator of just how cold it was that day, that it took a summer of 63 consecutive 100 degree days to thaw me out,  and that girl kicked it in the face. 

They are all OSU graduates, and the Pokes biggest fans, and I do believe if you cut any of this families fingers, they will bleed orange.  I absolutely dig that about them.

Shelley raised herself some wonderful kiddos, and was a huge support to me at Laynie's funeral.  She gave me arms to fall into when I needed a hug, and a reassuring rub on the back, when I wasn't sure I could go any further that day.

Shelley has been a wonderful voice in my day to day life. That is what you call a sister.  She will forever be Miss Shawnee to me.  She's beautiful inside and out, and I treasure her.